So history has a way of having a laugh every now and again. Case in point: British engineer Frank Whittle was the first to patent a real turbo jet engine. The year was 1932. He managed to build a functioning prototype by 1937. Though strapped to a test bed, it ran just fine. British military were not that interested.
On the other side of the channel, Hans von Ohain, a German engineer, had been tinkering with his own turbo jet. And the laugh is they never knew of each others work. The difference was German industrialist Ernst Heinkel saw a demonstration of the lab model and was hooked.
Heinkel had acces to the tools, machinery and expertise to build lots of stuff. He teamed Ohain with master machinist Max Hahn. Together they created a fully functioning stand alone engine. Heinkel was ready with an airframe and on August 27, 1939 (less than 2 years from workshop bench to production) test pilot Erich Warsitz successfully flew the He 178. This was the world's first turbo jet airplane to take to the skies. Erich Warsitz (know as titanium gut, cast iron constitution guy) was also the first guy to fly a rocket powered plane, the He 176, only a few months before. Hope he had a pension. Military testing was undertaken in quiet remote areas to maintain "secrecy and reasonable safety". Nice to know they care.
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